Kindred

Narrative Design & Worldbuilding

A mystery series about an ordinary who discovers something has been living inside him: a fragment of a body that shouldn't exist, planted there by a Cold War black program called Seraphim. Built as a complete narrative system: a secret history spanning ancient mythology to the 1960s, a seven-arc structure tied to the Seven Deadly Sins, faction design grounded in real religious and paranormal research history, and a central identity puzzle that doesn't resolve until the end.

What this demonstrates

Designing long-form mystery across seven interconnected arcs without losing structural coherence
Building faction systems with ideological and historical grounding (Cold War programs, paranormal research societies, religious orders)
Sustaining an unreliable-narrator puzzle across multiple volumes as a primary narrative tool
Using withheld information architecturally: what the reader doesn't know, and when, is the design

Inspiration

Origins of Kindred

Kindred is a world-building started in middle school, basically because I loved stories where an ordinary person discovers there's a hidden world right under our own(The hero's journey). Once I got into game design, it became something very useful: a sandbox to actually practice worldbuilding and systems thinking. I used it to figure out things like how an organization like the GIA would really function, not just what it looks cool on paper.

The biggest thing I learned is how to turn "stuff I like" into systems that actually hold up. A setting only works if it can support both the story and the underlying logic — not just pile on lore for its own sake. The characters grew the same way, starting as rough sketches and slowly turning into people with their own internal consistency.

At this point, Kindred is the longest-running practice ground I've had for narrative and systems design, and a lot of how my design judgment took shape.

Read Design Document

Note: If you are on mobile platform, the pdf reader might not work.

HISTORY

"An’terōs, the last of the Sins, plunged a dagger into his chest. In that moment, all orders ended."

Long ago, Promia, the bringer of fire, brought humanity freedom and overthrew the rule of angels.

But his seven children—born from the seven desires of free will—betrayed him during the Last Supper.

Promia was bound to a cross and burned alive. Thus began the dark age.

Centuries of war buried their empire, but the remnants still linger in shadows—waiting for return.

The Church & GIA

In the ashes of the Roman Empire, a new faith rose from the ruins—the Hidden Church. Its followers swore loyalty to Promia, believing his return would lead humanity to paradise.

For centuries, they waged wars against the demons, fomenting uprisings across Europe and beyond. Yet its faith fractured over bloodshed, and by the end of the Second World War, it proved too weak to stand.

This led to the establishment of the Global Investigation Agency. Unlike its predecessor, the GIA doesn't participate in political conflicts. Instead, they follow a creed: fight demons with demons.

GIA's agents are drawn from the world’s best elite. And among them walk those who carry demonic blood—the Kindred.

"Welcome to the GIA, we secure, we contain, we protect."

Demons & the Kindred

"During the final stage of possession, the host's personality will be replaced by the demon, a process called metamorphosis."

Demons are the descendants of the Seven Deadly Sins, vessels of pure desire given form.

They once ruled kingdoms, raised empires. Even when their bodies were destroyed, their spirits never truly died.

Over the centuries, people tried to lock them away—into relics, weapons, and forgotten vaults.

But never for long.

What they seek is a perfect vessel—human. Once the possession is completed, the possessed person will become a Kindred.

Kindred gains extraordinary powers from the demon, but every gift comes with a cost—the demon will eventually take control of the body.

Systems in the GIA

The GIA does not hunt demons. It manages them.

The Global Investigation Agency operates as the world's only sanctioned authority on anomalous entities. Where the Church once relied on faith and fire, the GIA replaced it with protocol, containment, and bureaucracy.

Every demon is catalogued. Every agent is ranked. Every breach is responded to — quietly, efficiently, and without public record.

The GIA's founding creed is simple: fight demons with demons. Its agents are drawn from the world's elite — and among them walk the Kindred, humans bound to demonic entities, trained to suppress what they carry.

What the public doesn't know won't destabilize them. The GIA prefers it that way.

"Anomaly log #4471 — containment successful. Casualties: two agents. Classification: acceptable."

"My lifelong dream is to put an end to the demon, so mankind can finally to enter a true lost paradise."

The Storyline

It all began with a writer.

Qin Mo, a Chinese novelist who vanished years ago, possessed the power to alter reality through writing.

The GIA believes Qin is still alive—or something wearing his name is. His dark stories continue to come true, and within these manuscripts, a single theme recurs: the resurrection of the Seven Deadly Sins.

To find Qin, the GIA needs someone closer—his son, Moming. A teenager from Manhattan’s Chinatown, who never knew his father was rewriting the world.

With the death of Senator Anderson, Moming is forced to join the GIA—thrown into a war between man and his own creation.